Osman Ahmed, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology discusses Genicular Artery Embolization (GAE) in this recent article in The Forefront.
Genicular artery embolization (GAE) is a new and innovative procedure for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) affecting the knee. OA of the knee is a very common chronic disease that affects millions of patients. Current treatment options include medical therapies such as physical therapy, pain relievers, and steroid injections. For patients whose disease cannot be controlled with medications, the only current alternative is surgery ( knee replacement ). Currently, there are many patients who are not ready to undergo surgery but are still not well controlled with medical therapies. GAE represents a new minimally invasive solution to treat this class of patients with knee OA. GAE involves using or tunneling a tiny tube or catheter through the arteries of the body under X-ray guidance to block the abnormal arteries that supply the knee. This minimizes the inflammation which is a major cause of pain and disability associated with OA. The procedure takes 1-2 hours and is done on an outpatient basis. Currently, University of Chicago Medicine is the only site in Midwest to offer GAE through clinical trials. The success of this initiative The collaborative efforts from anesthesia pain management, orthopedic surgery, and interventional radiology teams are responsible for this successful initiative.
If interested to learn more and to qualify for this clinical study, please contact Dr. Osman Ahmed at oahmed@radiology.bsd.uchicago.edu.
